I keep up with twitter okay and update Instagram reasonably regularly but our internet is slow and at times there isn’t enough of it to upload anything. The Etsy shop is a little bare right now as we sold out of most things at the Easter market but we’ll be updating it regularly as we make new things and when I finally get around to getting decent photos of the shawls and handspun yarn to put that up.

Photos are of things we have made. They are not all for sale in our Etsy shop but something similar can be commissioned from us. Scroll down for a coupon code to get 5% of everything in our Etsy Shop

(me out with the dogs on one of my better days)

My health has always been bad but these days I really am struggling to keep functioning.Many years ago I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I deal with pain every day. Sometimes it is much worse than others. Changing air pressure causes a really bad day. Some days I have enough energy to make food and work on art and craft stuff and catch up with friends and family online, some days I can barely make it out of bed and moving to the toilet and back is really difficult. These conditions are managed as much as I can. It became obvious though that they were not my only problems.

(Handspun merino/silk blend yarn in blues)

This last year I was diagnosed with Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome. It is a connective tissue disorder, itaffects collagen proteins in the body. Collagen is a building block that strengthens and supports various body tissues. It is found in tendons, ligaments, cartilage, skin, bone, blood vessels, the gut and the spine.EDS is caused by alterations in certain genes, which make collagen weaker. Sometimes the amount of collagen in the body is reduced. The faulty genes can be passed from parents to their children.– Wiki’s page on EDS – In depth article on hypermobility type EDS –

(needle felted pod baby)

I have frequent dislocations and sublaxes, usually fingers and toes and my jaw but also small bones in my feet, my left shoulder and my ankles. This causes a great amount of pain and instability. My muscles and tendons are over worked trying to stabilize joints and reduce movement. I have a herniated disc in both my neck and my lower spine, trapping nerves because my spine also moves too far and I have carpel tunnel in my wrists.I have chronic migraines (many times a week) because the blood vessels in my brain expand to easily because of the collagen problem.My skin is fairly fragile and my scalp will tear if I just rub at my head. My other biggest problem at the moment, with all the stupid heat, is Orthostatic Intolerance. My blood pressure drops causing me to faint when I stand for more than a minute and in hot weather it drops even when I’m sitting up. I also have huge troubles controlling my body temperature. If it is hot I get hotter and hotter until I throw up if I can’t cool myself down with an ice pack or cold shower. It makes these nearly 40c days unbearable.

(Teeny sheep earrings)

My doctor and physiotherapist are trying to help but neither of them knows much about EDS. I go to hydrotherapy once a week and am getting splints made for my wrists to help with the carpel tunnel. For the rest, right now, I just deal with best I can.

(Hand knit purple cable hoodie for a child)

This July there is a conference on in Parramatta focusing on EDS and Connective Tissue Disorders.http://www.edsconference.com.au/2014/index.phpThis is a massive chance for me to find out other ways I can cope with the symptoms and find medical practitioners who can help. This is one of the only chances I will have to access all this information in one place.

(hand knit toy elephant)

I live about 7 hours drive from Sydney but have family I can stay with about an hour away. I can save up for the dog boarding we’ll need to get there but registration for the conference is open now and is limited to 300 places. For Ruth and I to go to the conference on Saturday and Sunday it will cost $316. We just don’t have this right now at all but I do not want to miss this chance.

(Hobbit hole from the tiny house embroidery series)

I know money is tight right now for everyone but if you can have a look at our Etsy Store and see if there is anything you need or want.From now until the 1st March you can use the code EDSSALE receive 5% off everything in our shop.

We also take commissions for art, knitting, crochet, hand spun yarn, needle felted creations or anything else that we’ve done before. You can find more information about commissioning us at our Commission Page or Email me at wallflowerarts@gmail.com.If you can’t afford to buy anything then if you could share this post with others who might like our stuff that would be fantastic.

A big welcome to those who ventured over here from the link in the Hill End Gathering Group newsletter.Most of these knitted items are going up in our Etsy shop if you would rather buy through there. Otherwise you can comment here (if you can manage Bloggers CAPTCHA settings) or email me at wallflowerarts@gmail.com.You can also find us at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Are you cold? Or want to stock up for when it’s cold? Or buy things for people who live where it gets cold? Here are some knitted things. Most will eventually go up on Etsy but if you want to save me the effort and fees you can get it cheaper at market price.

All of these are 100% wool except two of the shawls and a scarf. Most are hand wash only. If you want one of these but in a different colour or different material, or a pair of mitts that are shorter or longer we can do that too. Just ask.

Can’t afford or aren’t interested in buying knitted things? You can still look at the awesome stuff we’ve made.

We also take commissions for anything knitted, crochet, needle felted or embroidered and I’ll do art commissions.

We have other hats (a few more kids ones etc) and embroideries and some needle felting at our Etsy Shop

* Welldigger pattern by Polly Hammond. Knit in grey Rustic wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills $25. Adult size. This is knit in stitch and is really squishy and thick. The rolled brim allows you to pull it down deeper on your head if you want. It covers my ears. We’re hoping to sort out a pair of mitts to match, using the same stitch. It’s grey, not blue. The colour is like the first two photos.

* Brambles pattern by Amanda Muscha. Knit in yellow Rustic wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills. It’s a pale yellow but more yellow than this is showing on my monitor. I’ll try and get a better shot. $30. Adult size. This is a slightly slouchy beanie. If you wanted it could be blocked as a beret or left as a beanie. (The ravelry link shows it as a beret) The bottom picture is just me trying to show the top while holding the hat and the camera. On your head it wouldn’t scrunch up so much.

* The bubble hat pattern by . Knit in cream Rustic wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills $25 . Adult size. Fold the brim or pull it down depending on how deep you like your beanies.

* Strong Heart pattern by Wei S. Leong. Knit in red tweed (blue, purple, red mix) More the colour of the second picture. Rustic wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills $40. Adult female size with a fair bit of stretch. These are really long in both the arm and the hand and use a lot of wool, hence the price. If you wanted a pair with the same pattern but shorter, we can do that too.

* Alderman pattern by Victoria Magnus. Knit in aqua Rustic wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills $30. Adult female size. These don’t have as much stretch but should still fit most hands. These are shorter but quite thick.

* Cold Turkey pattern by Veronica O’Neil. Knit in aqua Rustic wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills $30. Adult size. These are really flexible. I have tiny wrists and big forearms and these fit but Ruth doesn’t have either of those and they fit her too.

* Annabella pattern by Anna Aponte. Knit in grey Rustic wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills $40. Adult size. These are fairly flexible due to the ribbing on the underside. I love the pattern. If you have really skinny forearms you may need a different size but this should fit most sizes. These can also be knit shorter.

Scarves

* Branching Out pattern by Susan Lawrence. Knit in green Rustic wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills $40. This is a short scarf/cowl. Long enough to fit round your neck and tie in a knot or be pinned but wont hang down far. It’s about 40 inches long an 14 wide.

* Sparkle and rose pattern by Me. Knit in sparkly soft black acrylic with needle felted wool roses. It really doesn’t photograph well but it has a subtle silver sparkle through it. $35. Long and flexible enough to be tied anyway you like. It’s light and lacy with ruffles on the ends. One side has a needle felted wool rose. I can make more of these but the rose is going to be different each time as it’s freehand. I also have another of the scarves without the roses for $15. It’s around 60 inches long but it depends on how wide you pull it.

* Miami Vice pattern by threebagsfulled. Knit in bright rainbow acrylic yarn $50. Adult size. Comes down to just below your shoulder blades at the back. I can get photos.

* Age of Brass and Steam pattern by Orange Flower Yarn . Knit in coppers and browns acrylic yarn $40. Adult size kerchief. Needs blocking or ironing to stop the bottom edge curling. We will do this. The colours on this are hard to photograph. It’s very Autumn colours.

* Robin pattern by Lee Meredith. Knit in light blue, green, red, yellow and purple Rustic wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills $180. Massive. This is an asymetrical garter stitch shawl. We will block it to even out the decreases etc but it wont get a lot bigger (as lace does when it’s blocked). This is quite a lot of wool, hence the price. It’s a warm and practical garment though. It wont catch like delicate lace shawls do. You can secure it with a shawl pin or a bobby pin.

Again. My health crashed pretty badly and we had a fair bit to do with the October Market and a couple of commissions. I got a diagnosis of a herniated disc pushing on my spinal cord in my neck and recently of Carpel Tunnel syndrome. Pain in my neck, shoulder, arm and hands has really limited my time on the computer and my migraines had been back to daily again. I’ve been told not to stop my handcraft/art though so at least I can keep creating.

I have been keeping up a bit more with our Facebook page and since I got my new phone I’ve been able to post photos on our Instagram again and post on our Twitter. These will probably be the best places to keep up to date with what’s new for us.

We have finished many items since I last did a round up so I’ll try and get the photos edited and posted but with our internet as slow as it is and sitting at the computer causing problems I’m not sure how long it will take.

For now I will share the photos I’ve managed to get to load on Instagram. Sorry for the low picture quality, My phone has never been good enough to have a decent camera. I hope to keep up to date with this blog more from now on.

Embroidery commission for a friend’s niece. The power was off because of a storm so I sat in the doorway embroidering. Our house is pretty dark so doorway it was. I wish we had somewhere to comfortably sit in the front yard.

The little fuzz bucket, Dougall, after his summer haircut. Both dogs grow long hair over winter and we cut them short come spring.

And the big one, Pippin. Don’t let the slightly worried face fool you, that was for the storm. He was ecstatic to have short hair again, bouncing all over the place. Excuse the feed bag of fleece in the background. There was nowhere else to put it.

The storm didn’t last long

The roses on the fence are out and in the foreground you can see the Borrage and spinach

Sunset

Asparagus, feta and quinoa salad and an apple juice at The Wholefood Kitchen, Bathurst. We adore The Wholefood Kitchen. It’s such a friendly place. The staff treat you like family and the food and coffee are excellent. Food is local and in season and amazing. It’s right near the Bathurst Wholefood Co-Op too. We have coffee here most Wednesdays before I go to Hydrotherapy. We sit and work on what ever projects we’re in the middle of. It’s really worth a visit if you’re in town. It’s open Wednesday to Saturday from 8:30am to 2:30pm49 William St Bathurst NSW 2795(02) 6332 9327

The shawl Ruth was working on. Hopefully we’ll get a full picture soon

We finally got around to trying Pizza Capers in Bathurst. So much of their menu is gluten free. It’s fantastic to have this here as we don’t have a Crust Pizza up here.I’ve never lived anywhere that has as many Gluten Free options as Bathurst.

We shared a Bourbon BBQ Chicken pizza. It was a bit sweet for me but that’s the style of pizza. Most importantly, I didn’t get sick. We will definitely be going back.

More progress on the embroidery

Another storm

The front fence is covered in roses

Peach and nectarines with sugar ready to become jam

Orange and Elderflower jam from a friend

The garden. It’s such a pretty time of year. It’s full of ladybirds and butterflies and bees. Shame about the heat.The darker rose on the far fence smells wonderful.

The result of the jam making. This one is such a beautiful colour.

The finished embroidery

Hipster Totoro. I was needle felting a big grey Totoro for a friend and then accidentally added a mustache.

Earlier in the year I signed up for a needle work swap on Flickr in the Phat Quarter group.It’s a great way to get involved and you end up with a wonderful piece of art for your wall. It’s fun, if a little nerve wracking, to create something for everyone else.

The theme was Blinded By Science.My assignment was to create an embroidery for Mooshee. I love their embroidery, especially their plus sized pin ups so I decided to mix that with science.

I was happy with how it turned out.

The most exciting thing though was getting this amazingly, gorgeous embroidery in the post from Sarah Hennessey. My photos can’t do it justice. The stitching is so precise and beautiful.